


The Case

by amazingrace24



Category: Total Drama
Genre: F/M, also i wouldn't exactly call this a Duncney fic, it is but it isn't, not sure if i'll keep heather, so please bear with me, that may change though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6366019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amazingrace24/pseuds/amazingrace24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Because I'm so good at titles) Our resident CIT is all grown, living it up in the city with a stressful yet successful career as one of the best private detectives in the area. Good friends, good food, good home - what could possibly be wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Case

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I wrote back in 2014 and posted on fanfiction.net that I'd kind of forgotten about, and after re-reading my cringeworthy writing I decided to edit and repost it here since I use this site more. Just a heads up, I'm really inconsistent when it comes to updating so don't expect too much from me. I'll try my best to keep on a schedule, so we'll just have to see how it goes

There’s a difference between being good and knowing you’re good. Courtney knew she was good, and she relished in the fact. She also knew better than most what jealousy could do to a person, and that being virtually the most skilled private detective in her albeit small city would warrant some ill-feelings towards her. Of course that didn’t worry her. The only thing she worried over was losing her job, however unrealistic a possibility that was, but she always did try to avoid ruling out possibilities. After all, she'd once found Duncan attractive. He rarely came to mind anymore. None of the island did, surprisingly, considering it was a huge chapter in her youth. The only thing she had left of any of it was a couple of scars and that tiny wooden skull she had no idea why she still kept aside from the fact that it looked cool. The season she remembered most was World Tour, especially the economy class compartment. She couldn't imagine ever flying like that again now that she’d gotten used to the luxuries of first class.

  
From what she’d gathered from the occasional ad or internet article, the show still aired new seasons, and Chris McLean still hosted them, but it was a mystery as to why anyone would even consider auditioning for it. Or, even more so, why any sane parent would leave their child in the hands of Chris McLean for an entire summer. She figured since she was probably already halfway through this quick jog down memory lane, there was no point in turning back, so she went through a mental list of what she still knew of the original contestants. She and Bridgette, who’d become fairly good friends after leaving the show, had lost contact a while back. She knew DJ and his mom, to no one’s surprise, had opened up a restaurant that immediately gained popularity, and it happened to be right inside the city in which Courtney lived. She’d only been a handful of times, but she left with a smile after every one. It only then hit her that the rest of the cast was gone from her life. All unheard of, presumably off doing their own thing in some other part of Canada. Except she was forgetting someone. By whatever turn of fate or chance or alignment of the stars, somehow she and Duncan had ended up living not more than fifteen minutes within each other.

  
They saw each other occasionally, although neither spoke to the other. They didn't even acknowledge each other's presence, or at the very least she didn’t his. She hadn't forgotten that he'd cheated on her, and although she knew she hadn’t always been the most receptive or understanding or even affectionate person, it had still hurt. If she were being completely honest with herself, it still hurt now - almost fourteen years later and she still hadn’t been in another relationship. She now lived on her own in an admittedly impractically large house on the edge of town. She had lots of friends, even one she’d call a best friend, but the prospect of sharing her home with a romantic partner never crossed her mind. Sure, it got lonely from time to time, but most of her days were consumed by work, giving her no time to wallow in self pity. Still, every once in blue moon, she did think back to season one. She'd thought she hated Duncan the moment she’d laid eyes on him. She went as far as to show it, lifting her nose in disgust at his appearance. She'd be the first to admit that she was a very judgmental person; her opinions weren’t easily changed. And yet somehow he’d weaseled his way into her heart over the course of only a few weeks. She’d been way too hopeful back then. After all, they had only been sixteen.

  
Sitting at the desk in her office, Courtney set her pen down and rubbed her cheeks and attempted to steer her thoughts back to the task at hand. She’d been handed somewhat of a difficult case; all she had to work with were ransom notes. Already three robberies had occurred since her client had come to her with with a photo of a young boy reported missing and an almost hilariously movie-typical magazine-lettered note. That was only a week and a half ago. She was beginning to think there were multiple people involved, a conclusion she chastised herself for not having come to already. What made it so hard was that at each crime scene there was never anything left but the notes, and half of them didn't even make sense. The kidnapper went as far as to set meeting places, but whenever she showed up – twice with backup and once alone – no one or thing was there. The most she had to go on was that all four notes were signed "Gertrude Dawl." There was no Gertrude living in the county, or even, somehow, in any of the the surrounding cities. She felt it might be safe to assume it was a stage name of some sort.

  
Though she hated to admit it, Courtney was stuck. She had thought maybe there was some secret code hidden in the letter, but she’d searched and studied them for hours on end to no avail. She wouldn’t give up, but the weight of it all, not to mention the daily phone calls she’d begun to initiate herself to the family being targeted, letting them know that she still hadn’t had a breakthrough, was starting to pile up and mount to stress and a loss of much needed sleep.

  
Someone knocked on her office door.

  
"Come in," Courtney answered, trying not to sound too out of it. Vera, her closest friend and personal caretaker whenever she got too invested in a case, stepped in and shut the door behind her.

  
"Hey Court," she said, "I'm going downtown right now to meet up with Wendy. I want you to come." Not a question, a command. Courtney looked up at her, then back at the papers on her desk. She'd taken countless notes – that were more than likely pointless – and looked over her information at least a dozen times since that morning and still come up with nothing. It didn’t feel right to take a break without having made any progress, like she was cheating the people counting on her to save a little boy’s life, or at the very least recover his body.

  
"I've gotten no where with this. Not one lead. I can't afford to take a break, not now." Vera walked over to Courtney and tugged on her arm.

  
"Come on! One night out won't do you any harm. Look at you. You've been cooped up in this office from sun-up to sun-down for the past week."

  
"Like I haven’t done this before?"

  
Vera couldn’t very well argue. “Point taken, but this one seems to be taking an especially harsh toll on you. Failing posture, dark circles under your eyes –”

  
“What circles –”

  
“Drooping lids, a face in agony from malnutrition.” Courtney clearly wasn’t buying it, so Vera moved on. “Look, if you come with me tonight I won't bother you again for the next week."

  
“Like that’ll happen,” Courtney sighed and stood slowly. She took a moment to stretch, then turned her lamp off. If something happens tonight while I'm gone … she thought. “Let’s go, then.” Vera knew better than to look smug lest Courtney change her mind out of spite, but she allowed herself a little victory shimmy before they left the room to head down to the parking garage. "Wait." Courtney stopped walking after getting off the elevator. "I forgot to lock up."

  
"Someone else will do it," Vera assured her. Courtney didn’t even attempt to tone down her growing irritation. She didn't mean to direct it towards her friend but anger and frustration management was still something she struggled with from time to time.

  
"Someone else will lock up my office? The one no one else besides my boss has a key to? You also seem to have forgotten that we're the last ones here."  
"It'll be fine. It's not like anyone will break in here."

  
"Vera it will only take a minute. My office is right outside the elevator.”

  
"Just leave it! Nothing will happen, I promise."

  
"How can you promise if you have no idea what'll happen?"

  
"Seriously, Courtney, you're just being paranoid."

  
"Paranoid or not, I try to avoid taking chances like this.”

  
Sensing her mood, Vera calmed her tone to counter Courtney’s. "Well I’m sorry, but I highly doubt you’ll get robbed tonight. What do you have to loose anyway, a bunch of papers? Come on, we'll be late. I know how much you hate being late.”

  
“What if I get a phone call?”

  
“You have your cell phone, do you not?”

  
Realizing it was pointless to argue with Vera, Courtney gave in and continued to the garage without another word. It took them about twenty minutes to reach their destination, but the sight of the establishment lifted Courtney’s mood immediately. The place was small but packed full of people looking for a home cooked meal, even on a Wednesday night. DJ's restaurant.

  
Vera’s friend Wendy was waiting outside for them with a square buzzer, chatting with the man she’d brought along with her. Courtney hadn’t realized just how hungry she was until the buzzer began to vibrate, which thankfully happened after only five minutes of waiting. The envious stares of children waiting restlessly to be seated didn’t phase her in the slightest.

  
DJ was waiting that night and Courtney was elated to find out that he would be serving their table. They struck up a short conversation, exchanging pleasantries before ordering both food and drink. Their meals arrived rather quickly, much to their delight, and none hesitated to, quite literally, dig in.  
About halfway through their night, Courtney happened to glance up as a woman walked in. At first Courtney paid her no attention, seeing as there were probably hundreds in the restaurant and the woman was just another one joining the crowd. It wasn’t until she began to feel uneasy that she peeked up again. No one else at the table appeared to notice, but the same woman, from her perch on a barstool, was staring directly at Courtney.


End file.
